


Episode 4 - Run to Earth

by RobertBruceScott



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek - Various Authors, Star Trek RPF, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Character Death, Character Study, F/M, Murder Mystery, Serial Killers, Space Battles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-05-31 18:29:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 11,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19431676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobertBruceScott/pseuds/RobertBruceScott
Summary: In the wake of an attack by a serial killer, the U.S.S. Hunter flees Ocean and heads for the protection of Earth.The Hunter is ambushed while traveling at warp and suffers casualties.T'Lon enters Pon Farr and makes her move on Kenny Dolphin.





	1. Episode 4.1 - The Crusher/Crumar/Carrera Effect

**Author's Note:**

> I am migrating Episodes 2-4 from a single work into separate works. Once done, I will remove them from the larger work which will then become Episode 1.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The U.S.S. Hunter is headed for Earth, but is obeying the Federations Warp 5 limit. 
> 
> But the Hunter has an experimental engine, partly designed by Wesley Crusher...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like the idea of Wesley Crusher just showing up at the Daystrom Institute after having learned an immense amount from the Traveler. 
> 
> Eventually, I will bring in both Wesley and the Traveler for a cameo appearance in Season 2...

4 - Run To Earth

_“There exists an unprecedented cultural and emotional bond between humans and vulcans. Each seems somehow to exemplify the other’s most heartfelt aspirations…” Dr. Kenny Dolphin,_ _The Impact of Humanity on Pon Farr, the Vulcan Mating Cycle_ _._

4.1  
The Crusher/Crumar/Carrera Effect

Justice Irons was surprised at how quickly she had grown accustomed to speaking with Investigator Lynhart Shran. The old investigator sat in her office along with Lt. T’Lok Smith. Even though he wasn’t a member of Star Fleet (the two investigators were civilians contracted to Star Fleet), with Lt. Tauk and Ensign T’Lon unable to report for duty, Shran was now the senior member in Director Smith’s department. Their current flight from Ocean, where the crew had been scheduled for much needed shore leave, was entirely on Shran’s recommendation. Irons was surprised at how quickly and thoroughly the old investigator had gained her trust.

“So why Earth, Mr. Shran?”  
“We’re not going fast enough,” Shran replied. “I can tell - we’re only going warp five.”  
Irons had no doubt he could tell. Experienced space travelers knew how warp five felt in the deckplates and what it looked like in the apparent movement of the stars that could be seen through the window behind her. “I can’t help that at the moment. I’mcertain you are aware of the Federation’s warp five limit to preserve the integrity of local spacetime.”  
Shran’s expression was very direct: “Maybe it’s time to try out that Crusher/Crumar/Carrera effect your engineers are always whispering about.”  
Irons’ expression was deadpan. Her voice was a bit frosty. “I am certain I do not know what you are talking about.”  
Shran was genuinely insulted. “Oh come on boss, give an old gumshoe some credit. I don’t have any formal education, but I’ve spent the last 50 years figuring out stuff other people don’t want me to know. How useful would I be if you could keep a secret like that under my nose?”  
T’Lok looked at Irons and raised an eyebrow - for once looking like a vulcan as much from her behavior as from her facial features.   
Irons sighed, then allowed herself a slight chuckle. “Actually, Investigator, Dr. Carrera is making the final preparations to engage the so-called zip drive. This boat is the first one designed with that capability, but until now the only successful tests have been with drones. The engineers have only managed to run successful simulations at scale recently. Warp field improvements are notoriously difficult to scale, but the math involved in this project is ferocious. I have requested permission to engage the drive once it is ready. But that is no guarantee it will work. And very unpleasant things happen if it fails.” 

Shran took a long, deep breath - let it out with a puff. “Two reasons,” he started. It took Irons a few heartbeats to realize the old investigator was addressing her original question. “First: distance. I have never known a betazoid not to have a distance limit to their ability. Assuming our killer is on Bajor, we need to get as far from there as fast as possible so she can’t track us. Second: clutter. Once we get to Earth, this crew needs to spread out. That way, if our telepath hops a transport and comes to Earth, she will have a hard time finding us. There were less than 6,000 people at Star Base Eleven and Ocean - we were easy to find. But Earth is the most populated region of space we know of - 14 billion on Earth itself and another 3-4 billion scattered throughout the Earth’s solar system in various star bases, colonies, ships coming and going, the Utopia Planitia shipyards… In all about 18 billion minds and probably the highest concentration of powerful telepaths as well - that’s a much bigger haystack to try to find us in.”  
Irons mulled this information over. “Do you have a plan beyond that?” she asked.  
“Yes,” Shran replied. “There’s a third reason to go to Earth - resources. I would prefer not to explain further until we get a little more space between us and our mind reader. I’m trying very hard not to think about it myself. Secrecy is everything.”

T’Lok interjected, “Crusher/Crumar/Carrera?”

Irons looked to her right and called for the Hunter’s interactive holographic avatar: “Hunter, display the design team for this vessel’s warp configuration and the zip drive.”  
The boat’s holographic emitters projected an image of three people in white lab coats - two men and a boy smiling and waving. The image loop lasted two seconds and repeated, but was seamless so that it was impossible to tell at which point the image ended and restarted. The boy was dark-skinned with a bowl haircut and although clearly no more than 12 years old, seemed oddly familiar. The Hunter’s elderly, gray-bearded interactive avatar was clearly recognizable as one of the two men. The other man was much younger, a bit taller and wider with soulful brown eyes, long, unruly brown hair and a thick brown beard that covered much of his chest.  
“You recognize Professor Jose Crumar of the Daystrom Institute, the man behind nearly every significant improvement in warp field engineering for the past half-century. Our boat’s avatar was patterned after him - right down to his quirky sense of humor. The other man is Wesley Crusher, who resigned his commission with Star Fleet and vanished with some alien known as the ‘Traveler.’ He simply appeared at the Daystrom Institute about 10 years ago with the basic theory for a warp drive system that would not only not degrade the fabric of spacetime, but would actually repair the damage done by centuries of warp travel. He vanished again about 5 months later. But by then Dr. Crumar and his top student had most of the math worked out.”  
T’Lok Smith and Lynhart Shran were riveted by the image. “And the boy?” T’Lok asked.  
Irons smiled. “This image was recorded about 10 years ago. That boy was Professor Crumar’s top student and the lead designer of this vessel - Dr. Sarekson Carrera.”

4.1 

**Crew of the U.S.S. Hunter:** (Ship's Interactive Holographic Avatar - Hunter)

At-Large Appellate Justice, Captain Minerva Irons  
Chief Executive Officer - Commander David Pepper  
Chief Operations Officer - Lt. Commander Mlady

Medical Director - Lt. Commander Tali Shae  
Asst. Medical Director - 2nd Lt. Jazz Sam Sinder  
Ensign Chrissiana Trei  
Forensic Specialist - Midshipman Tolon Reeves  
Forensic Specialist - Midshipman Sif  
Emergency Medical Hologram - Dr. Raj  
Tactical Medical Hologram - Dr. Kim

Director of Flight Operations - Lt. Kenneth Dolphin  
Asst. Flight Dir. - 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor  
Navigator Johanna Imex  
Navigator Eli Strahl  
Ensign Ethan Phillips  
Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth  
Flight Specialist Dih Terri  
Flight Specialist Joey Chin  
Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar

Director of Ground Operations - Lt. T'Lok Smith  
Asst. Ground Ops Dir. - 2nd Lt. Tauk   
Investigator Lynhart Shran  
Investigator Buttons N'gumbo  
Ensign T'Lon   
Tactical Specialist Jarrong  
Tactical Specialist Belo Rys  
Tactical Specialist Belo Garr  
Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys

Director of Engineering - Lt. Sarekson Carrera  
Asst. Engineering Dir. - 2nd Lt. Moon Sun Salek  
Midshipman Tammy Brazil  
Transporter Engineer K'rok  
Ensign Sun Ho Hui  
Flight Engineer Yolanda Thomas  
Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs  
Flight Engineer Tomos  
Flight Engineer Kerry Gibbon


	2. Episode 4.2 - Dolphin and T'Lon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Tali Shae, Dr. Kim and China Irons (Justice Irons' daughter) care for the unconscious Kenny Dolphin and T'Lon. 
> 
> T'Lon is keeping Kenny Dolphin alive using a mind meld.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This episode slumbers along - with three main characters asleep through much of the episode.
> 
> A perfect setup for a sucker-punch. And this episode is packing one...

4.2  
Dolphin & T’Lon

In order to maintain the physical contact needed for the mind-meld between Ensign T’Lon and Lt. Dolphin, Dr. Tali Shae had constructed a sort of sling. This made it extremely difficult to move the two and they could not be transported. Rather than wrangle the two unconscious officers down several decks into the medical bay, Dr. Shae had transformed the rear section of the wagon into an ersatz medical bay and installed holographic emitters. This allowed her to transfer the Tactical Medical Hologram, who responded to either the acronym TMH or the name Dr. Kim, the name of the doctor she had been modeled after.   
The TMH was a reserve program designed to provide emergency medical treatment on the tactical unit. Unlike the Hunter’s interactive holographic avatar, who had extensive personality programming, the TMH was more or less a medically expert automaton. But with Dolphin in a coma and T’Lok wandering in and out of consciousness, medical monitoring and emergency response were all that would be needed until one of the medical staff could respond.

Justice Irons’ half-vulcan daughter, China, who was returning to Earth aboard the Hunter, had also moved in to the wagon. With T’Lon semi-conscious, China Irons was now the most powerful telepath onboard - even more than Flight Engineer Tomos, who was entirely vulcan.  
Dr. Shae watched China Irons tending to T’Lon. “So I barely understand telepathy - either vulcan or betazoid. I mean, I understand the genetic markers that enable it, but I have no idea how it actually works. Warp field theory is easier.”  
China didn’t smile or register much of any emotion, but she seemed warmer than most vulcans and that warmth was reflected in her voice. “Warp field theory is much, much easier, Dr. Shae.”  
“Tali, please,” the andorian doctor responded. “Call me Tali. We are family.” She couldn’t be certain, but it seemed that China’s expression warmed just a little.  
“T’Lon is maintaining Lieutenant Dolphin’s autonomic functions,” China said. “His brain is producing the messages to keep his heart working but they’re being actively blocked. T’Lon is going around the block. But it is exhausting her. I’ve been able to help so that she can rest, but she isn’t getting good rest.”  
“Is she in danger?” Dr. Shae asked.  
“It isn’t good for her,” China said. “But she’s only 25, really just a child for a vulcan. And she’s in peak physical condition and mentally tough. She could probably do this for a month, but we need to keep her nourished.”  
Dr. Shae’s antennae twitched in surprise. “A month?”  
China raised an eyebrow. “She could, but Lieutenant Dolphin couldn’t. If we can’t get him stabilized in the next few days, his brain will start to lose the ability to transmit the necessary signals to keep him alive and I don’t know of any medical procedure yet that could restore that function once it atrophies.”  
“And he’s being actively blocked?” Dr. Shae was just a little terrified.  
China Irons mused for a moment. “A betazoid can conduct multiple telepathic functions simultaneously, sometimes without actively trying. The more powerful telepaths can almost completely automate such functions. This must be how the telepath is maintaining the block or he would have awakened as soon as she fell asleep. Unless she hasn’t slept yet, in which case she will start to lose strength rapidly. She may not even be aware she’s doing this at this point.”

4.2


	3. Episode 4.3 - Ground Operations Lounge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> En route to Earth, the Hunter's crew return to their normal shipboard routines. Soon to be horribly interrupted....
> 
> _Buttons Ngumbo laced his fingers behind his head and reclined. If an ancient Greek were to happen by, he would immediately look for a block of marble to record an image of the young man’s perfect form... With his shiny, nearly black skin and powerful, ropy muscles, Buttons looked like speed itself, taking a rare breather, perhaps only to pose for others to admire._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter offers a portrait of life aboard the Hunter. The ship's accommodations for its crew and the crew's normal routine described in this chapter become critical to the action of this episode.

4.3  
Ground Operations Lounge

Like all non-automated starships, the vast majority of the Hunter’s space and resources were devoted to meeting the needs of the crew. But the Hunter was not a deep space vessel. Crew members on the big ships would literally spend years in space without ever exiting their vessel. For this reason, ships designed for deep space missions were essentially flying hotels with extensive crew quarters and recreational facilities.  
In order to conserve space on the Hunter, crew members slept in their emergency escape pods. Only the three executive officers had individual staterooms. The remainder of crew quarters consisted of a number of small lounges, each the size of a stateroom, arranged around groups of escape pods. These lounges were designed to serve between four and six individuals. Each contained two couches that folded out of the walls and an open space in which a holographic dining table, or exercise equipment (or, in the case of Dr. Carrera, a baby grand piano) tailored for individual needs could be projected. The energy cost of creating such items holographically for temporary use was far less than the cost of actually carrying these items and securing them would be.  
The four department directors, 1st lieutenants Carrera, Smith and Dolphin and Lt. Commander Dr. Tali Shae, shared the director’s lounge on deck 4. The Ground Operations lounge, accommodating the two investigators and the four members of the tactical operations squad, was tucked into another corner of deck 4.

The Hunter did incorporate one accommodation not often found in starships - the outer ring of the largest deck, deck 5, was a dedicated running track. This was a concession to the need for the crew to maintain a high level of physical fitness. The Hunter’s mission included interdiction of criminals on the ground by a highly trained tactical operations squad and by pilots using interceptors, which had limited inertial dampening. Fighter pilots tended to be body builders - having a greater muscle mass allowed pilots to deliberately constrict their blood flow by constricting their muscles - helping to keep more blood in their brains to maintain consciousness during high G turns.  
The rest of the crew also took advantage of the deck 5 running track, but whenever Buttons Ngumbo arrived on deck 5, anyone else running there would wrap up their tracking and leave the track to Buttons. This was neither out of respect nor dislike, but simply because Buttons ran so much faster than anyone else, his presence alone would make the track feel crowded as he would pass other runners twice and even three times before they could make a single lap.  
Having long noticed this, Buttons had become very regular about his training time so that the rest of the crew could plan around him. This was beneficial to him as it allowed him to run as fast as he could given the need to constantly turn on an oval track that was less than 40 meters in circumference.  
Following his run, Buttons went down one deck to the Ground Ops lounge and took a vibe-shower, which allowed him to wash both his body and his running trunks in waves of damp air that felt and acted like water, but left him and his clothing dry after cleaning. This cleaned his body without need for chemicals such as soaps. His sweat and any accumulated grime was reclaimed by the boat’s life support system for reprocessing. The lounges each had two such shower units - which could allow six people to coexist in relative peace.  
Buttons donned his running trunks again and walked, barefoot and bare chested, to relax on one of the couches. Each lounge had its own culture and the ground operations group, half male and half female, felt comfortable with minimal clothing.  
Lynhart Shran was seated on another couch, wearing gray shorts and undershirt, diligently polishing his shoes. Shran was probably the only person on board who actually had personal belongings to bring on board. Buttons’ clothing, including his running shoes, was made by the replicator using patterns stored in his personnel file. When these became threadbare or damaged, he would dump them into the replicator to be reduced to their component materials and reconstructed.  
All of Shran’s clothing was tailor made, including his jeans and his shoes. He also had his service revolver from his years in the Andorian Imperial Guard, along with a supply of ammunition that was exclusively made on Andoria for this antique weapon. Like Buttons, Shran was a creature of habit. He cleaned and oiled his revolver every morning and polished his shoes at the end of every shift.  
Buttons Ngumbo laced his fingers behind his head and reclined. If an ancient Greek were to happen by, he would immediately look for a block of marble to record an image of the young man’s perfect form - possibly needlessly adding winged sandals as if anything could make the young investigator look faster. With his shiny, nearly black skin and powerful, ropy muscles, Buttons looked like speed itself, taking a rare breather, perhaps only to pose for others to admire.  
Shran got up, stored his shoes and the polishing kit in a foot locker mounted in the escape pod that served as his sleeping pod. He fished out two bottles of beer he had acquired on Ocean and opened them. Ngumbo’s eyes were closed, but he held out his hand as Shran wordlessly brought him one of the bottles.  
The investigators reclined on separate couches, eyes closed, silently enjoying their beers. They had been partners for years and this was a sort of evening ritual.  
This quiet aesthetic was broken when the four tactical squad members bustled into the room. They weren’t noisy, but they were quite energetic. Buttons wasn’t yet 30, but these scrawny street kids made him feel ancient by comparison as they disrobed and hit the showers.  
Belo Cantys was the first out of the shower. The youngest and scrawniest of the lot, she wasn’t heavily muscled, but there was hardly any fat on her body - her ribs were there to count. Dressed only in an athletic bra and shorts, she threw herself onto the couch next to Shran. Buttons smiled and closed his eyes again. Those two would not remain in public long. They had been together almost from the moment the private detective firm of Buttons & Shran had been brought onboard.

Star Fleet recognized the inevitability of relationships among crew members, particularly on deep space missions. In order to protect everyone, a joint-disclosure registered with one of the executive officers and the medical director was required at the beginning and end of any intimate relationship among crew members. This led to a long-running joke about the Star Fleet approved pickup line: “Hey baby.. do you want to disclose?”

Cantys’s half-brother, Belo Garr, called for a resistance training kit, which the holographic emitters produced in the small open area in the lounge. He started a short workout. Their half-sister, Belo Rys and their cousin, Jarrong, headed directly to their pods after emerging from the showers. Buttons drained his beer, got up without a word, dropped the empty bottle in the replicator and retreated to his pod as well.

4.3


	4. Episode 4.4 - The Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T'Lok Smith touches her best friend's mind. And leaves a part of herself there...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another of those details that comes back and becomes a driving plot point later.

4.4  
The Touch

With Kenny Dolphin unconscious in the wagon, T’Lok Smith had the director’s lounge to herself - as she generally had for the two years before Dolphin was finally brought aboard as the director of flight operations. Director Carrera usually worked a different shift and was gone before T’Lok arrived. He tended to work all kinds of hours and it was not uncommon for him to use the safety shower in main engineering. Dr. Tali Shae, the medical director, had a cot in a small room adjoining her office and preferred to sleep there. There was also a shower in the surgery that doctors used before and after operations.  
T’Lok had never thought of the director’s lounge as a lonely place before, but she had gotten used to Dolphin’s presence. He was a deep thinker and she greatly enjoyed their conversations. Before he came she had rather enjoyed the solitude. It felt unbearable now. Unable to sleep, she wandered up to the shuttle bay and stepped aboard the wagon.   
T’Lon was sleeping fitfully, her hand affixed to Dolphin’s face by a sling. China Irons was stretched out on another makeshift bed in the center of the wagon. She looked up briefly at T’Lok, not surprised by her presence, then laid back down - clearly exhausted.   
T’Lok knelt next to her childhood friend, gently brushed T’Lon’s hair, then placed her fingers on T’Lon’s temple, touching her mind. T’Lon seemed to breathe a little easier.

4.4


	5. Episode 4.5 - A Matter of Mass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Carrera's department work to bring the Zip Drive online.
> 
> _Carrera sat down, very slowly, and looked at his junior staff member - then placed his face in his hands, elbows on the desk._

4.5  
A Matter of Mass

Dr. Carrera had long been accustomed to working double shifts and sleeping in his office. His staff had also become accustomed to such conditions. Many of them were at least part vulcan and found solving engineering problems as good as any other form of recreation. They had been trying to crack this one - getting the zip drive to work properly - since before the keel had been laid. But it was really up to Dr. Carrera. This was primarily a math problem and the only other math genius on board, Lt. Tauk, was in an artificial coma.  
Carrera could tell he was close, though. Replication would be very problematic. It all had to do with mass. And not just gross mass - an increase or decrease of only a few kilograms and the solution had to be scrapped and the math started from scratch. There was no simple way to handle this variable - it affected the entire process from the start of the calculations, requiring the invention of an entirely different series of equations every time the mass changed even a little. Mass could be controlled on drones. But add a live crew and even on a boat this small, mass would change enough throughout every mission to routinely require entirely new equations.  
For now, these equations would get them into recursive warp mode - or, as Wesley Crusher had dubbed it - zip drive.  
“Hunter,” Carrera called. The boat’s interactive holographic avatar appeared to his right.   
“Did you solve it?” the old man asked.  
“For now. It all comes down to mass. We knew that, but there is no simple way to recalculate when the boat’s gross mass goes out of tolerance by 3.14 kilograms,” Carrera answered. He tapped a large viewer that was displaying an insanely complicated series of calculations. “Display this series in the engineering conference room. All engineering staff, if you’re awake, please join me in conference room #2.”  
Carrera had been awake for far too many hours, but he sprinted with renewed energy to the engineering conference room. Four engineers were waiting for him. The remainder of his staff should be asleep. His assistant director, Lt. Moon Sun Salek was already studying the calculations.   
“The entire process changes every time,” Dr. Moon observed. She was as frustrated as her director.   
Carrera replied. “The tolerance is 3.14 kilograms. Or more specifically, 3.1415926535897…”  
“Pi,” Moon cut him off.  
“Pi,” Carrera replied. “It sounds so universally significant. But it’s pi kilograms. It doesn’t make any sense at all. Why kilograms? Why not pi vloms? Or pi tons? Or pi grotofish?”  
Carrera wasn’t attempting humor, but his reference to an archaic standard unit of mass used by pre-warp bolians elicited nervous laughter and raised eyebrows.  
“Okay - you have your measurements. Take your part of this solution and make your part of the process ready.” Carrera turned to address one of his flight engineers, “Tomos, you are assigned to continuity. Make sure all these pieces fit together. That’s my job, too, you’re my backup.”  
Tomos spoke up. “Dr. Carrera - if mass is such a problematic variable, why don’t we just make it a constant?”  
Carrera looked at the vulcan engineer. Then looked at him again.  
“Mass changes throughout every mission, Mr. Tomos.”  
“But what if we use ballast? If we pick up more mass - such as a passenger, we remove that exact amount from the ballast. It could be done with asteroidal debris or trace gasses. When we lose mass, we beam in more debris.”

Carrera sat down, very slowly, and looked at his junior staff member - then placed his face in his hands, elbows on the desk.

Tomos was about 100 years old - middle aged for a vulcan, but new to space flight and warp theory. He had previously been a librarian living in seclusion at a distant vulcan sanctuary. He watched his director closely. Carrera worked far too hard for a human. He was brilliant - a legend within the close-knit community of the Daystrom Institute. He was also under the impression he was a vulcan and it wasn’t healthy for him.   
Carrera finally looked up, the exhaustion clear on his face. “Hunter.”  
The elderly looking hologram appeared next to Tomos. “You need rest, Dr. Carrera…”  
“Yes I do,” Carrera responded. “Work with Flight Engineer Tomos and develop a program to automatically stabilize the Hunter’s mass. Mr. Tomos - get Midshipman Brazil involved as well, but I want you to head this up. It’s your idea. If we lose mass while in transit, find a way to beam in more. Safety protocols… Emergency procedures… as soon as ready, bring it online. It looks like I’m going to have to make sure of continuity of the zip drive solution on my own.”  
“Understood, sir,” Tomos replied.

4.5


	6. Episode 4.6 -  Blowout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tactical team are exercising on the track on deck 5 when the U.S.S. Hunter is attacked and deck 5 is suddenly exposed to space.
> 
> _Cantys and Garr struggled helplessly on the floor and gasped for air in the freezing near vacuum of the evacuated track..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the beginning of this chapter is an explanation of how the Belo siblings are related and their relationship to Jarrong. Star Fleet is a massive operation that just devours people - but it is still all volunteer. While our military separates related service members to reduce the chance of losing an entire family in a single incident, Star Fleet does not have that luxury and some cultures will not serve unless families are kept together.

4.6  
Blowout

Lt. T’Lok Smith was accustomed to running in the morning with T’Lon and her tactical squad. For the first time, T’Lon wasn’t there. But Jarrong and the three half-siblings were warming up in an open area near the lift tube on deck 5 when T’Lok arrived. Belo Rys, Belo Garr and Belo Cantys shared a bajoran mother, but had separate fathers, all cardassian. Their mother had been taken as a slave during the Cardassian Occupation. Jarrong’s grandmother was another bajoran slave from the same family. Even though they were only a few years younger than T’Lon, the four had adopted the young vulcan as a sort of family member - a sentiment T’Lon had made use of in training her squad.  
T’Lok had already stretched. She touched each squad member on the shoulder as each stepped onto the track and started running, then followed them. They had to make dozens of laps, constantly having to take sharp turns on the small, oval track. Because of this limitation to the track, runners were accustomed to changing direction every 20 laps. T’Lok had passed all of the squad members except Jarrong - the only squad member close to the young vulcan’s height. She and Jarrong had just reversed direction when an explosion shook the boat.

Part of the bulkhead on the port side of the Hunter exploded outward, exposing the track to space. The ring decompressed as the atmosphere was blown out through the hull, carrying first T’Lok, then Jarrong and Belo Rys out into the vacuum of space.  
Belo Garr - who was still on the starboard side with his other half-sister - flattened himself against an interior wall - his fingers searching for any purchase. He reached out and grabbed Cantys’s arm. These two youngest squad members slid inexorably toward the hull breach, but dropped to the floor as an emergency protocol erected a forcefield over the breach.   
Cantys and Garr struggled helplessly on the floor and gasped for air in the freezing near vacuum of the evacuated track before another emergency protocol engaged the transporter and beamed them directly to the Medical bay. The same protocol captured Jarrong, Reese and T’Lok, rescuing them from the vacuum of space and sending them directly to the Medical bay. The Emergency Medical Hologram was also immediately activated and the Medical staff alerted to the emergency.  
The new program designed and brought online by Tomos, registering the loss of mass in the form of atmosphere and deck plating, reached out with the cargo transporter system searching for any mass to replace this loss with, with the result that that atmosphere and the deck plating were immediately beamed into storage areas to re-balance the Hunter’s mass.

Justice Irons had risen for the day. C shift was nearing its end and Lt. Commander Mlady was in the captain’s chair. Irons was in the midst of her morning Tai Chi training, wincing with every move of her right arm, slow, deliberate, when an instinct stopped her. She had been a Star Fleet captain nearly half of her exceptionally long life and had learned to trust that gut instinct.   
Irons carefully reinserted her right arm into its sling and stepped onto the bridge at the same moment that medical forensic specialist, Midshipman Tolon Reeves, currently serving a shift at the tactical console, said, “Ship decloaking off the port unnnhhh….” He gripped the console and grunted as a poorly aimed disruptor beam grazed the Hunter’s port side with tremendous energy.  
Mlady responded instantly, “Shields up, power weapons and bring us about!”  
“Belay that order!” Justice Irons was hanging onto the door frame between her office and the bridge with her left hand. “Give me warp eleven now!”  
Flight Specialist Dih Terri, at the helm, had only recently become aware such speeds might be possible. But she dialed it in and the Hunter suddenly lurched, the deck plating groaning in protest. A second disruptor beam passed near the aft of the Hunter - in the next heartbeat the interloper was left light-years behind as the patrol craft made a blur of the stars.  
Mlady stood up, but Irons waived her back down. “Stay put, Lieutenant Commander, I need you in that chair right now. Hunter - damage report.”  
The elderly interactive avatar did not appear as usual, but his voice was carried into the bridge by the communication system. “Hull breach on deck 5. Atmosphere vented. Five casualties, all transported directly to Medical bay. I am working with Ensign Sun and Transporter Engineer K’rok to repair the hull. Emergency force field is in place, but I advise against repressurizing until repairs are complete.”  
Irons responded: “Shipwide, deck 5 is depressurized and off limits - pressure suit access only.” She turned to her second officer as Pep entered the bridge. “Lieutenant Commander - remain in command. If they catch up to us or any other ship shows up, run away faster. You have clearance up to warp 14. Any faster than that and this boat will come apart.” She turned to her gigantic first officer, “David, suit up. I need you on deck 5 supervising repairs. Get a camera on the outside and get a look at the hull. Full damage assessment. I will be in Engineering first, then Medical.”   
Without a word, Pep turned and exited the bridge, heading toward a locker near the ground operations room. Irons passed him on her way to the lift. She gripped one of the handles as the doors closed and said, “Main engineering.”

4.6


	7. Episode 4.7 - Triage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The medical department ministers to the casualties rescued from the demise of deck 5. One of them didn't make it...
> 
> _She looked at the fifth patient - a sheet draped over the entire table. Dr. Raj responded to Dr. Shae’s glance by slowly shaking his holographic head..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knew I would lose at least one crew member early in this story. I wanted the death to be impersonal - just someone in the wrong place at the wrong time.

4.7  
Triage

Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder started surgery immediately on one of the victims, then turned that surgery over to Dr. Chrissiana Trei - aside from explosive decompression disorder, this victim had a few broken bones and several deep wounds. She needed blood, bone repair and skin regeneration. Dr. Trei could handle that.  
Dr. Raj, the Emergency Medical Hologram, had completed the triage. Two of the victims had experienced decompression, but nothing else as they had not been ejected. Dr. Raj could handle their treatment.  
Dr. Jazz wrinkled his nose - which, considering he was fully bajoran, created an almost comic accordion effect. This victim had far more extensive injuries and needed a significant amount of blood immediately. Using the victim’s transporter files, Dr. Jazz synthesized three liters of her blood for immediate use. Synthetic blood was useful, but could cause organ damage if too much remained in the system after a few days. There were drugs that could enhance her natural blood production and help metabolize the synthetic blood out - he only hoped she would be healthy enough for that treatment. For the moment, he needed to re-attach her hand, which had been beamed in along with her and placed in a stasis field.  
Dr. Tali Shae was the next to enter the operating room. She looked at the fifth patient - a sheet draped over the entire table. Dr. Raj responded to Dr. Shae’s glance by slowly shaking his holographic head. Dr. Shae walked around, checking the treatment of each victim, then stepped in to assist Dr. Jazz. She stepped back as Dr. Sif, one of her forensic specialists, entered, allowing the young trill to take over providing assistance for Dr. Jazz.  
With a deep sense of foreboding, Dr. Tali Shae approached the fifth table and lifted the sheet. She bit her lip, grimacing, deliberately hiding her face from the rest of her staff. She took a deep breath, then asked “Do any of you need assistance?”  
None of the doctors answered. Dr. Raj, the EMH, noticing that an answer was needed, reported: “Two patients are stabilized, the other two are receiving appropriate treatment.”  
Dr. Shae responded, “I am removing the fatality for forensic examination.” She used the Medical bay transporter system to move the lifeless form from the table in the main surgery to the front surgery and walked to the front surgery.  
Only once she was out of sight of her staff did Dr. Tali Shae allow herself to shake. She took a deep, shuddering breath, then turned back to the table, removed the sheet and did her job.

4.7


	8. Episode 4.8 - The Carrera Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Carrera and his engineering department are working themselves to death trying to get the formulas correct to bring the Hunter into recursive warp (zip drive).
> 
> _Carrera was ready for it and engaged the zip drive immediately. He then watched with a mixture of dread and pride as his engine thundered to life and did its work. He suppressed an impulse to cheer. This was what he had built these engines to do. Somewhere deep in his mind was an image of Wesley Crusher rubbing his hands together and cackling, “It’s aliiiiivveee…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing the wonderful zip drive. If you're reading carefully, you might notice me throwing hints right and left that at some point there's going to be a BIG price to pay for this miracle. Ain't nothing free...

4.8  
The Carrera Effect 

The explosion woke Dr. Carrera, who was dozing lightly at the warp control panel. He immediately checked over the readiness of the zip drive, then checked the ship’s mass. It was off, indicating a hull breach and loss of atmosphere and deck plating, but was restored to the correct amount within seconds. Tomos’ mass reclamation program worked.   
A heartbeat later the command for warp eleven came through. Carrera was ready for it and engaged the zip drive immediately. He then watched with a mixture of dread and pride as his engine thundered to life and did its work. He suppressed an impulse to cheer. This was what he had built these engines to do. Somewhere deep in his mind was an image of Wesley Crusher rubbing his hands together and cackling, “It’s aliiiiivveee…”  
Carrera suppressed his inner, manic Wesley Crusher and started giving orders: “Ensign Sun, K’rok, damage control. Dr. Moon, I need you to go to the tactical unit and manage the engine interface. Kerry - get over here and keep an eye on these readings.”   
A few moments later Justice Irons stepped off one of the lifts. “Well done, Dr. Carrera. How long can we keep this up?”  
Carrera was only 23, but he looked like he was 50 and not in any good way. He was clearly exhausted. But he had clearly already given thought before the question was asked.   
“I don’t know. But my recommendation is no more than three hours. Two, if we can make it two. I take it we are being pursued.”  
Irons removed her right hand from the sling and placed her hand on his chest. The limited telepathic contact this gesture gave her was not so much an exchange of thoughts - it allowed her to sense emotions and have a calming effect. Despite all his efforts at emotional control, Dr. Carrera was human - if a brilliant one. Irons’ effect on him was visible - some of the stress and exhaustion evaporated from his face. “Your office, Lieutenant?” She gestured toward the engineering office where Dr. Carrera spent most of his time.  
Carrera sagged into his chair as Irons said, “We were ambushed while at warp - we have to assume we are being pursued. Whatever it was, given the power of that attack it had to be a capital ship. That was no pirate. We have to assume they will follow us.”  
Carrera responded evenly. “The zip effect will make us difficult to trace. Assuming it’s working properly and not leaving some sort of subspace cavitation. We won’t leave a conventional warp trail.”  
“How quickly can you get us to Earth?”  
“Assuming we stop, I would recommend going dark. Give me about an hour to check the engines and make adjustments. If all is well, we can be to Earth in about 18 hours,” Carrera said.  
Irons’ eyebrows both went up considerably. “That is much better than 22 days. How did you resolve the mass variable problem you were telling me about?”  
“Flight Engineer Tomos solved it for me.”   
“I didn’t know Tomos was a mathematician,” Irons said.  
“He isn’t. He’s a librarian.”  
Irons smiled. “So he found the solution in an ancient vulcan library?”  
Carrera maintained a level gaze. “He made mass a constant. About twenty minutes ago. Just in time.”  
“I am looking forward to hearing more about that,” Irons responded. “Get some rest, Lieutenant. We’re going to need that brain of yours in about two hours and fifty minutes. Have your staff schedule the stopover and QuickQuiet with Lieutenant Commander Mlady. I am needed in Medical.”  
Dr. Carrera looked down, then up, “Casualties?”  
“Five. I don’t know their status, so do not worry yet, Lieutenant.”  
“Aye, Captain… Good luck,” Carrera added as Irons headed toward the lift.

4.8


	9. Episode 4.9 - Casualties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Tali Shae and Justice Minerva Irons discuss the loss of a beloved crew member.
> 
> _Irons finally managed to sort out a few words. She was still listening to herself saying them, as if part of her was in another room, listening in. “Tali… I didn’t know… You know, I didn’t realize how much of my hope for the future was invested in that young woman...”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted from the start to lose one of my best characters very early in this story. Star Fleet vessels are dangerous places to work and this will not be the last crew member to leave in this series...

4.9  
Casualties

Justice Irons walked into the empty Medical Office and sat down across from her best friend’s desk. There was nowhere else to be at this moment. Nothing to do but wait. Her crew were doing their jobs. Her job now was to help the crew accept the casualties. She could only hope that this office was empty because there were living crew members being tended to in the two surgeries beyond.

After a very long five minutes, Dr. Tali Shae entered the room from the surgery. Irons could tell by her expression that something was terribly wrong. That and the wash of bitter emotion Tali brought into the room with her. Irons watched as the doctor slowly sat down - grief clear on her face. Irons simply waited.  
“The tactical squad was training in the track on deck 5,” Tali Shae started. “They are all recovering. But T’Lok…” the doctor caught her breath.  
Irons could feel her face responding with grief, but it felt like something that was happening on the surface of her face - it hadn’t made its way to her heart yet.  
“She…” Dr. Shae caught her breath again. “She didn’t make it.”  
Irons heard herself saying, “I want an autopsy. I want to know how she died.” Irons hated the coldness she heard in her own voice.  
“I’ve already done that, Minerva,” the doctor responded. “She must have been the first exposed to space. As you know, a disruptor, unlike a phaser, carries a heavy radioactive backwash,” The doctor’s voice steadied and she took on a more clinical tone. “It doesn’t last long. From the wounds on T’Lok’s arms and legs, it looks like she spread-eagled on the breach, trying to keep from getting blown out. Her back was exposed to the radiation in backwash of the disrupter beam - it boiled her organs inside her.”  
Irons felt the coldness settling in.  
“She probably saved Jarrong and Belo Rys. They were ejected behind her, but by the time they hit space the radiation had dissipated. Dr. Jazz is re-attaching Belo Rys’s hand. She should have full use of it by tomorrow.” Tali Shae fell silent, then started to shake.  
Irons finally managed to sort out a few words. She was still listening to herself saying them, as if part of her was in another room, listening in. “Tali… I didn’t know… You know, I didn’t realize how much of my hope for the future was invested in that young woman.”  
Tali Shae tried to respond, but couldn’t.  
Irons heard herself say, “I feel guilty… I can’t stop wishing that it was anyone else. I’ve been a starship captain for more than eighty years. I’ve lost more crew members than we have serving on this boat. But this one… She should have lived another hundred and fifty years. All the wonders she should have seen… This is one horrible day.” Irons looked down and fell silent.

Dr. Tali Shae found her voice. “I felt the deck plates. I’ve never felt anything like it before. How fast are we traveling?”  
“Warp eleven,” Irons responded, not understanding where this came from.  
Tali Shae continued, “However you remember this day, Star Fleet will remember this as the first day a starship travelled above warp ten deliberately and under its own power. You’ve broken the biggest speed record. And if that drive works the way it’s supposed to work, you’re not tearing space apart - you’re repairing it.”  
Irons laid her head back, staring at the ceiling. “We could have done that tomorrow.”  
“Minerva, you’re going to have to tell the crew. I just don’t know how you do that. Everyone loves T’Lok. There is no one on this boat she didn’t comfort or hug or make laugh…”  
Irons finally felt her voice as if it were her own again. “This one hurts.” She bit her lip, then managed, “a lot.”  
Dr. Tali Shae and Justice Minerva Irons sat in silence for a few moments.  
Without looking up, Tali said, “You know, you need to tell them about warp eleven. And the zip drive. And while we lost T’Lok, we saved four others.” Tali Shae looked up. “Minerva, we need to remember this as a good day. Dr. Carrera’s whole life has been about this. That whole engineering department - they’ve been working themselves to death making this happen. And they saved all our lives. We were able to run away.”  
Irons felt a bitter laugh escape her. At that moment the communication system came alive, bringing the slightly mechanical voice of the Tactical Medical Hologram, Dr. Kim, into the room. The TMH sounded oddly excited: “Dr. Shae, they’re awake…”

4.9


	10. Episode 4.10 - Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dolphin and T'Lon awaken briefly, demonstrating that the Hunter is now out of range of the influence of BK2.
> 
> _China Irons watched Dolphin and T’Lon sleeping. She was still processing what she had heard about T’Lok, the attack, the killer... She had no idea what had drawn her mother out of retirement no less than four times to return to the helm of a starship._

4.10  
Awakening

By the time Justice Irons and Dr. Shae arrived at the wagon, China Irons had removed the sling that had held T’Lon’s fingers to Lt. Dolphin’s temple and the two had both fallen into a normal sleep, clearly exhausted, no longer in telepathic contact. Investigator Shran arrived only a moment later.  
“So it’s true,” the old investigator said.  
Dr. Shae was using a tricorder to verify that Dolphin and T’Lon were stable.  
“It’s time to wake Tauk up,” Shran said.  
“We’re out of range of the Breakfast Killer?” Irons asked.  
“BK#2,” Shran said. “I have Buttons on deck 5 looking at the evidence from the attack. I’ve been going over the telemetry with Dewayne Guth. That young man has seen a thing or two. By the time you get my boss out of deep freeze, we should have something for you. It’s just a hunch at the moment, but I think I know what that attack was about.”  
Irons turned toward the old investigator. “Could it have anything to do with our, well, as you say, BK#2?”  
“We’re alive,” Shran said. “So, all things considered, my opinion would be, no.” Shran’s antennae turned toward Dr. Shae, then his attention followed. “Doc, think I can be there when you wake the kid up? He’s probably going to be a little sore with all of us.”  
Dr. Tali Shae looked at Irons. “Minerva?”  
“Wake him up, Tali.” Minerva Irons responded. “And tell him he is in charge of Ground Operations for now.” She turned and looked at Dolphin and T’Lon. “I’m glad they’re sleeping. I don’t want the first thing they hear to be my announcement about T’Lok.”  
China and Shran both turned toward her.   
“She died in the attack,” Irons said. “Don’t tell anyone - I will make the announcement in a few moments. I just need to put some words to it. This,” she gestured toward Dolphin and T’Lon, “this is very good news.”

Minerva Irons returned to the bridge, not looking at her second officer, who was still in the captain’s chair. Or anyone else. She could feel their eyes on her as she walked straight to her office and let the door close behind her. She sat at her desk, then retrieved a hair brush from a drawer, removed her right hand from its sling and slowly, methodically, painfully brushed her hair.

China Irons watched Dolphin and T’Lon sleeping. She was still processing what she had heard about T’Lok, the attack, the killer. China had never wanted such an exciting life. She was a cultural archeologist, specializing in vulcan culture. Her husband was a judge. Two of their children were in Star Fleet. There were few more dangerous jobs. She had no idea what had drawn her mother out of retirement no less than four times to return to the helm of a starship.

Shran and Buttons helped Lt. Tauk sit up. The long period under sedation had left the young ferengi woozy and for some reason he had a bit of a cough. It took a few minutes before his senses had cleared enough for his investigators to bring him up to date and he was still more than a little confused.

Belo Rys was propped up into a reasonably uncomfortable position on the surgical bed. She really didn’t feel strong enough to leave it. She stared at her hand in wonder. She could see the faint ring of new skin where her hand had been reattached. She slowly flexed her fingers. It didn’t feel as if her hand had been ripped off - it looked, responded and felt just like normal. She looked at her half-sister and half-brother, neither quite asleep nor awake. Jarrong was up and pacing, but wore herself out quickly and then propped herself up in a corner.

Dr. Carrera slept soundly on a cot hidden in an alcove behind his office. Pep walked into main engineering, partly to marvel at the engine that was carrying this boat faster than the fastest top of the line deep space ships and partly to quietly congratulate and encourage the engineering staff for their hard won accomplishment.

“All hands…” Justice Irons’ voice was carried throughout the boat by the communication system. “That new feeling underneath you in the deck plates is the feeling of traveling at warp eleven. This date will be remembered as the first successful manned flight using a new propulsion configuration that allows us to achieve much higher speeds without causing damage to spacetime. Not only that, but in theory, use of this method will repair the damage done by centuries of warp drive. This has been the life work of our Director of Engineering, Dr. Sarekson Carrera and when you think back to this day, I want you to remember that this is in no small part his day.”  
“But this is also the day we lost one of our own. We were ambushed and suffered casualties. Fortunately, between the smooth operation of our safety protocols and the expertise of our medical department, four lives were saved. But it grieves me deeply to inform you that our Director of Ground Operations, Lieutenant T’Lok Smith, was killed in the line of duty at six hours and forty-four minutes this morning.”  
“I can only tell you how deeply I feel this loss. But we are not out of danger yet and I still need each of you to perform your duties to the high standards that you always have achieved. If, however, you need to take a few minutes to recover, please inform your officer in charge. At nine hours, thirty minutes we will come to a full stop and go dark for one hour. If your duties permit, you may join Dr. Tali Shae and me in the Medical bay at that time.”   
“That is all.”

Dr. Carrera slept soundly straight through the announcement.

4.10


	11. Episode 4.11 - Dark Mode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The U.S.S. Hunter comes to rest in dark mode while the engineers evaluate the performance of the newly engaged zip drive. Most of the crew gathers in Medical to remember the late Lt. T'Lok Smith.
> 
> _Tauk took a moment to adjust - he had outranked T’Lon since he met her, but they had always been colleagues working for T’Lok. He had never given her an order and only now realized his request had to be construed as one..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It takes some time to get beyond the death of someone you really care about and like. And some people you never get over.

4.11  
Dark Mode

The Hunter was dark, its decks illuminated only by luminescent panels, radiating out the light energy the chemicals inside those panels had been absorbing from the general lighting. A dim blue glow - just enough to see by. The only control panels that were powered were the ones that Dr. Carrera and his engineering department needed to evaluate the condition of the engines. Only the Medical bay, which included the brig units, was fully powered. This was the most heavily insulated area, deep in the interior of the boat.  
With the exception of the engineering department and four staff on the bridge, most of the crew was gathered in Medical. T’Lok’s body was in cold storage. Lt. Tauk, Lt. Dolphin, and Ensign T’Lon - all awakened from their long, involuntary slumbers - were present, huddled together, T’Lon’s team crowded in close around them. Belo Cantys and her half-brother, Garr, seemed momentarily unwilling to step aside to allow Justice Irons to step up and place her hand on Tauk’s chest. The little ferengi barely moved.   
“Tauk, I’m sorry,” Irons said. “You have no defenses against the Breakfast Killer. She tried to kill Lieutenant Dolphin. If she had tried to kill you as well… Our only choice was to keep you sedated so she couldn’t find you.”  
Tauk nodded numbly. Investigator Shran stepped up behind him and placed a hand on the young lieutenant’s shoulder.   
Irons continued, “Lieutenant, as assistant director, until I name a new director, you are in charge of ground operations.”   
Tauk started to nod, then turned and called to the medical director: “Dr. Shae - can we link the forensic work stations to the data for ground ops?”  
Tali Shae looked at Tauk, but her antennae twitched toward the forensic work stations located in the forward surgery. “It’s all one computer,” she said.

Tauk and his staff gathered in the forward surgery. “Before we can capture our Breakfast Killer, we have to find her. So someone tell me how we know it is a female?”  
Shran spoke up. “On the beach, when everything went sideways, BK2 was reaching out to us. Looking for anyone who had been looking for her. The Judge and me - we don’t have much in the way of telepathy, but we do have some defenses. But T’Lok could sense her - she told us it was a female mind - a very powerful one.”  
Belo Cantys winced slightly when Shran said T’Lok’s name and looked at T’Lon, but the ensign registered no emotion.   
Tauk reacted to a different part of Shran’s response. “BK2?”  
“We know she’s not the first one. And using an acronym will help - take it from an old manhunter. The target is a target.”  
“We’re trying to capture this target, Lynhart, not kill her,” Tauk said.  
“That is going to be a very tall order, Boss.”  
“Worked like a charm on me,” Tauk responded, slightly acerbically. He turned toward T’Lon. “Ensign, I would like to use your squad to do some detective work.”  
T’Lon responded evenly, “Put us to work, Sir.”  
Tauk took a moment to adjust - he had outranked T’Lon since he met her, but they had always been colleagues working for T’Lok. He had never given her an order and only now realized his request had to be construed as one. He took a deep breath, then plowed on, now addressing the squad members. “I need you to each take one of BK2’s victims. Start with the humans. Trace their movements over the past three years. We are operating under the assumption that BK2 used repeated mind-melds to install… instructions. What we’re looking for is a correlation that places the human victims in proximity where BK2 would have had prolonged opportunity to conduct a number of mind-melds. Probably over the space of several days, if not weeks. Investigator Buttons, I want you to supervise. Make sure all the human victims are followed, then do the same with their spouses. If my theory is right, they will all pass through one or two different places. If you get that far, start looking for any female vulcan/betazoid hybrids in those places at those times.”  
Shran smiled. “Amazing what a good sleep will do for you, Boss,” he said. “So what do you want me to do?”  
“I assume you’ve been putting together a plan to kill her,” Tauk said.  
“Until about five minutes ago, I had an idea…” Shran started.  
Tauk cut him off. “I want you to come up with a plan to capture her and render her powers inert.”  
Shran shook his head, his antennae comically moving the opposite direction from his face. “I just knew you were going to say that, boss”

Tauk turned and put his hand on T’Lon’s arm. “T’Lon, this is not an order, but our biggest clue is in Dr. Dolphin’s mind. Can you find it?”  
“I can try.. I want to try. If he will allow me. It may take a lot of time.”  
“Take all the time you need - and only if he will allow it. But he needs to consider this,” Tauk continued. “Whatever BK2 put in his head - it’s probably still there. And you are probably the only person who can dig it out of him. I’m sure he will want to be rid of it.”

Dr. Tali Shae stormed into the room, her antennae twitching. “Alright, what are you people doing on my forensic workstations? Get back to your own room!”  
Justice Irons was behind the doctor, laughing quietly. “We’re clear for warp eleven. You can go back to the ground ops center now. Investigator Shran, do you have some answers for me about what attacked us?”  
“I think so, Boss.”  
“Lieutenant Tauk, I want you, Buttons and Shran in Conference Room 1 in twenty minutes. Be ready to talk about the attack,” Irons concluded. “Lieutenant Commander Mlady, bring us to warp eleven and get us to Earth. Executive staff meeting in twenty minutes, Conference Room 1.”  
The communication system carried Mlady’s voice back from the bridge, “Aye, Captain.”

4.11


	12. Episode 4.12 - Assessment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justice Irons reviews the ambush of the U.S.S. Hunter with her senior staff.
> 
> _“A cardassian battlecruiser with a romulan cloaking device?” Dolphin asked._  
>  _Dr. Carrera followed, “I want to know how they were able to fire a main disruptor before fully decloaking.”_  
>  _Tauk responded, “This isn’t general knowledge, but during the war with the Dominion, the romulan and cardassian military intelligence agencies - the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order - forged an alliance. The romulans installed cloaking devices on seven cardassian Keldon class battlecruisers prior to a disastrous attack on what they thought was the homeworld of the Founders..."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lt. Tauk and his detectives get to work and figure out who ambushed the Hunter... and why...

4.12  
Assessment

The three surviving department directors, 1st Lieutenants Kenneth Dolphin and Sarekson Carrera and Lt. Commander Tali Shae were seated around the antique teak table in the executive conference room along with the executive staff: Justice Minerva Irons, Commander David Pepper and Lt. Commander Mlady. Investigators Lynhart Shran and Buttons Ngumbo were also seated at the table.  
Outside the large window on the starboard side of the room, stars streamed by at a speed none of them had ever witnessed before. But all eyes were focused on a holographic image of an as yet unidentified ship gradually emerging from a cloaking field, firing a bright red disrupter beam at almost the very moment it decloaked. The entire sequence depicted an event that had lasted only three seconds, but the display slowed this sequence to a crawl.  
2nd Lt Tauk stood next to this image at the front of the room. “As you are no doubt aware, there are several different types of cloaking device. They all work on the same basic principle, but they manifest in different ways. The frequency of the shimmer we collected on telemetry is consistent with a romulan cloak. But the prow of the ship we were able to observe, and the material composition of its hull are not consistent with romulan construction. Not to mention the color spectrum of the disruptor beam.”  
Tauk continued, “Investigator Buttons performed an analysis of the damage to our hull. The results, along with the telemetry on the attacking ship’s hull, its prow design, and the color spectrum and power of the weapon, as well as the results from the autopsy on Lieutenant Smith - they’re all consistent with a cardassian Keldon class battlecruiser.”  
“A cardassian battlecruiser with a romulan cloaking device?” Dolphin asked.  
Dr. Carrera followed, “I want to know how they were able to fire a main disruptor before fully decloaking.”  
Tauk responded, “This isn’t general knowledge, but during the war with the Dominion, the romulan and cardassian military intelligence agencies - the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order - forged an alliance. The romulans installed cloaking devices on seven cardassian Keldon class battlecruisers prior to a disastrous attack on what they thought was the homeworld of the Founders. All those ships were reported lost in that attack. Apparently they modified an eighth ship.” Tauk turned toward Dr. Carrera, “As for your question, that was really the final clue. The cardassians improved on the Galorn class battlecruiser by adding a very large battery to the main disruptor. The disruptor still needs access to main power. But if that battery were fully charged, they would not need to wait for the disruptor to power up before engaging it. No other ship would be able to do that.”  
Mlady spoke up, “What keeps the romulans and klingons from upgrading their disruptors that way?”  
“Treaty law,” Justice Irons responded. “Specifically the Kittomer Accords. It’s the same treaty that keeps the Federation from developing cloaking technology.”  
Lt. Tauk continued, “Investigator Shran had already suspected the cardasians. Lynhart?”  
Investigator Lynhart Shran continued the analysis in his gravelly voice: “Back on New Hope Colony there was cardassian junk all over the place. Cardassian disruptors, cardassian band rifles, T’Lon’s team was sheltering under cardassian armored ground vehicles. Cardassians wear skintight gloves to protect themselves against the radioactive backwash of their disruptor rifles. You can’t see these gloves on cardassians, but they’re evident when humans wear them.”  
“Even the dampening generator,” Buttons Ngumbo added, “I was only able to shut it down because I could read cardassian script.”  
“By itself, all that didn’t mean much,” Shran continued. “Cardassian military surplus is all over the place. It’s cheap, not as powerful as klingon weapons nor as clean and versatile as federation equipment. But it’s simple, rugged, easy to repair. You could drag a cardassian band rifle through the mud and then fire it underwater. I wouldn’t try that with my revolver.”  
Lt. Tauk picked up the thread, “But with a Keldon class battlecruiser firing on us, not to destroy but to disable us…”  
“They were trying to rescue Governor Ivonovic,” Justice Irons concluded. “Hunter!”  
The boat’s interactive avatar appeared next to the holographic display, across from Lt. Tauk. “Your honor?”  
“Prepare a recording of this briefing to send to the U.S.S. Challenger and get me Captain Summers.”

In a few moments, the holographic image of the decloaking ship was replaced with a two-dimensional representation of the bearded Captain Summers.  
“Summers here, how can I help you, Captain Irons?”  
“Are you carrying Governor Ivonovic?”  
“Taking him to Earth,” Summers responded. “Him, a few of his cronies who tried to break him out of Star Base 11 and a very pretty young woman who does not seem anywhere near smart enough to be his lawyer.”  
“I am sending you a briefing about an attack on my vessel that occurred less than four hours ago. We believe there is a Keldon class battlecruiser using a romulan cloaking device that may attack your vessel if they realize you have Ivonovic,” Irons said. “I highly recommend you start looking for it immediately. Captain, this ship can engage its main disruptor immediately on decloaking.”  
“That would be a violation of treaty,” Summers said.  
“I think we may have a rogue element here, Captain” Irons responded. “The Cardassian Interim Central Government will have plausible deniability.”  
“Understood Captain - thanks for the warning,” Summers responded.  
“I have to look after my crew, Captain, past and present,” Irons replied with a smile. “Hunter out.”

4.12


	13. Episode 4.13 - Director's Lounge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenny Dolphin deals with the loss of his friend, T'Lok Smith. 
> 
> _Dolphin sat on the couch just staring at the door - as if she might just walk in. The door chime startled him - he had never heard it used. He stood up and said, “Enter.”_   
>  _The door opened to reveal Investigator Lynhart Shran. Dolphin was genuinely surprised._   
>  _“Investigator Shran?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While a number of love affairs are touched lightly on throughout the Star Trek Hunter series, the one that starts in this segment is one of two that really drive the story...

4.13  
Director’s Lounge

Lt. Kenny Dolphin wandered out of the conference room and eventually found himself on deck 5. Two of his flight crew greeted him as he stepped off the lift; they took his place in it and left the deck. Dolphin was still foggy from his recent brush with death. The only thing that had really gotten through to him since waking was T’Lok’s death. He couldn’t even remember which crew members he had just met.  
He wandered around the track. One person was standing near the port side. It was T’Lon. He walked up to her, then just stared at the wall. T’Lon placed her hand on the wall. Dolphin focused his attention there.  
“This is where it happened,” she said simply.  
That section of wall looked just the same as the rest. The repair was seamless. Dolphin wondered if T’Lon could see some sort of telepathic imprint to tell her where the spot was. “How can you tell?” he asked.  
“Telemetry,” she answered.  
“Why are you here?” Dolphin heard himself ask.  
T’Lon looked at him levelly. “To talk to you. Everyone has come to look at this wall. I anticipated you would as well.”  
Kenny Dolphin just looked at her.  
“Whatever BK2 placed in your mind, the program to kill on command, it’s probably still there,” T’Lon continued. “I think I can find it and remove it.”  
“When do we start?” Dolphin asked.  
“Tomorrow. When we’re strong enough,” T’Lon responded, then turned and walked away.  
Dolphin watched her. There was something wrong about her gait, awkward. He realized she was walking with her left arm crooked - as though arm-in-arm with her now-deceased childhood friend. Dolphin felt a wave of sadness for her, then found himself suddenly awash in an unfamiliar and unwelcome emotion - waves of nostalgia for a lost childhood only a few days passed - his first command - innocent flirting with a pretty young vulcan - riding a giant wave on a surfboard for the first time - staring up at unfamiliar stars from the warm sands of a planet that was not Earth. It all seemed so long ago. It was a lifetime ago.  
Kenny Dolphin shook his head to dispel the reverie. He wasn’t certain how long he had stood there watching the hallway after T’Lon had departed. He got started moving and ended up in the director’s lounge on deck 4. Neither Carrera nor Shae were there. They almost never were. When he was stationed on the Enterprise, he had a small, isolated stateroom to himself. Dolphin had long preferred a solitary existence.   
But for the past week, he had shared this space with T’Lok - her endless curiosity, boundless enthusiasm, intelligent conversation had filled this room. It wasn’t a large room but it seemed cavernous and empty without her.

Dolphin sat on the couch just staring at the door - as if she might just walk in. The door chime startled him - he had never heard it used. He stood up and said, “Enter.”  
The door opened to reveal Investigator Lynhart Shran. Dolphin was genuinely surprised.  
“Investigator Shran?"  
“I can’t stay, Boss. We have a lead and I’m needed upstairs. But I figured you could use this,” Shran walked in and set a heavy shot glass and a captain’s bottle with a crystal cork on the counter next to the replicator. A small amount of thick, navy blue liquid lurked in the bottom of the bottle. “Aldebaran whisky from the lowland marshes of the southern continent - 60 years old - almost as old as I am,” he said. “Drink it slow - this is the good stuff. When you’re done I’d like the bottle and the glass back. They’re hand-blown. The real stuff just tastes better when you keep it and drink it in the real stuff.”  
Dolphin looked at the bottle with renewed respect - it was a work of art. So was the glass. “Thank you, Mr. Shran.”  
“Drink it slow,” Shran said, then walked out the door.

Shran was right - the whisky had wonderful, complex combinations of flavors that kept unfolding as the intoxicating effect took hold. There was only one shot in the bottle. Dolphin sat on the couch, slowly enjoying the drink and catalogued his memories of T’Lok. It made sense to him to try to remember everything about her that he could. He was astounded at how much he had taken her presence for granted - as though they might share this room for years. These were good memories and well worth preserving.  
Dolphin was lifted from his reverie by the door chiming again. He drained the glass, walked carefully and placed it on the counter next to the bottle, then said, “Enter.”  
Gaia Gamor stepped into the room carrying a platter with a small amount of food. Behind her, David Pepper squeezed through the doorway. Wonderful smells from the breakfast on the beach filled the room - especially the smoked fish. “I thought you might be hungry,” Gamor said.  
“I wasn’t, but I’m starving now,” Dolphin said. He called for the Hunter to project a dining table with appropriate seating, sat down at the table and waived for Gaia and Pep to join him. He launched into the miniature buffet with gusto. He hadn’t eaten in days.  
“Lenny Shran’s Aldebaran Whisky,” Pep observed after sniffing the empty shot glass. “That man has the best taste in everything.”  
“Mmmm..” Dolphin observed around a mouthful of fish.  
Gaia Gamor smiled as Dolphin swiftly polished off the food. “I guess I should have brought more.”  
“No, this was exactly the right amount.”  
Pep looked around the room. “Kind of empty without her, isn’t it?”  
“I’ve been remembering her. Everything I can think of. Just a week, but there really was a lot,” Dolphin said, then bit his lip.  
“About a year ago she had an affair with old Tomos - the vulcan down in engineering,” Pep said.  
Dolphin was stunned, not about the affair, but that Pep addressed it so casually.  
“Lasted only a few weeks, but Tomos said it was the most wonderful event in his life. That’s a lot from an old fashioned vulcan. Mate for lifetime type. He washed up here after his wife died - no idea how he was going to go on with life or even if he wanted to. T’Lok made him family.”  
“She did wonders with her department,” Gaia continued. “She took a box of broken toys and turned them into a close-knit family - an excellent team. You got to know so little about her.”  
“She was more klingon than vulcan or human,” Pep said. “Completely fearless. She was never afraid to give everything she had and everything she was. She lived every moment like it was her last. She lived more in 27 years than most people could manage in a hundred.” Pep stood up.  
Dolphin and Gamor also stood up.  
Pep put his enormous hand on Dolphin’s chest. This odd physical contact seemed omnipresent with this crew - it was very unusual for Star Fleet officers to touch each other this way - except on this boat. Dolphin had grown used to it - even started to enjoy it, but he was still far too inhibited to return the gesture. He was the product of generations of New England WASPs - casual physical contact was not part of the culture he had been raised in.  
“Don’t mourn for her, Kenny. She had an amazing life. Mourn for us that we lost her,” Pep said. He stepped back and picked up the bottle and glass. “I’ll take these back to Lenny for you,” he said, then turned to leave.   
Gaia Gamor placed her hand on Dolphin’s chest, smiled and said, “Good night, Director,” then followed Pep out the door.

A few hours later, Dolphin was awakened by someone knocking on the door of his escape/sleeping pod. He preferred to sleep naked - so he wrapped a sheet around himself, then touched the control panel that unsealed and opened the pod door. Through the dark, translucent window, he could see someone step to the side of the door. Dolphin started to emerge from the pod. T’Lon pressed him back into the pod, joining him and closed the pod door.  
“I’m cold,” she said.  
Without thinking, Dolphin opened the sheet, then responded strongly as he felt her skin pressing against his. “Are we about to do something we will need to disclose?” he asked, awkwardly.  
T’Lon pressed her cheek next to his, covering part of his face with her hair and whispered softly in his ear: “That is my intention.”

4 Run To Earth


End file.
